A large population of people today have dogs, cats, or other pets. A common difficulty faced by pet owners is the ability to easily carry food, water, and other supplies for the pet when travelling. Because animals typically drink out of an open container, it is usually necessary for a person to carry a bowl or other open container for the animal to eat and drink from. Leaving food and water in such a bowl is not ideal, as it will usually spill when in a vehicle. As such, while some foods may be repackaged, any remaining liquid must be discarded to avoid spills. Constantly refilling the bowl is not only burdensome, it also requires the person to carry inordinate amounts of foods and liquids. In other instances, the person may not have a bowl for use while travelling, which makes it difficult to adequately feed and water the animal.
Further, pets may accompany owners on walks, hikes, or other activities. In such an instance, both the person and the animal will usually need water for hydration. This requires the owner to carry separate containers for transporting liquid (e.g., sealable) and for hydrating the animal (e.g., a bowl). Again, the pet may not drink all of the water placed in the bowl by the owner, requiring the owner to discard any remaining water in the bowl before continuing. What's more, pets may experience a bowl movement while on the hike, with the owner needing a waste bag to discard of the excrement. In addition, if the animal requires additional medication or suffers an injury, it may be difficult to adequately care for the animal.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to solve some of these needs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,261 to Fick and U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,445 to Polimeni both disclose apparatuses for feeding pets. However, the '445 patent requires that liquid be removed from the bowl before transporting, and the '261 patent requires a separate apparatus for food and water, which fails to solve several, if not all, of the problems described above.
Further, pets are in need of more supplies than food and water. For example, many pets require medication, wound care, or other needs. Still further is the desire of the person to have additional accessories, such as waste bags for the collection and disposal of animal excrement.
Therefore, despite attempts in the prior art, there remains a need for a portable storage device for pet supplies, including the ability to carry food, water, and other accessories. The present disclosure seeks to solve these and other problems.